David Cameron's mission to China

Telegraph View: The fastest route to freedom for the Chinese people is
through trade with the West.

Tomorrow David Cameron will lead Britain’s biggest trade delegation to China since the reign of King George III. He is taking with him the Chancellor, three other cabinet ministers and 50 captains of industry. It is a delicate time: he is the first major western leader to visit the country since the jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize. Alas, the Chinese are treating the award as some kind of western conspiracy designed to undermine their political system.

The Prime Minister, whose visit to India so revitalised Anglo-Indian relations, needs to tread a fine line this time. China may have joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, but the opening up of its economy is proving to be a slow process: there are far too many import “standards” and other regulatory hurdles that burden foreign businesses with a competitive disadvantage. And, of course, it remains a one-party state. So Mr Cameron must impress on his hosts Britain’s belief in the importance of basic freedoms – the rights of free association, expression, and equality under the law. At the same time, he should offer reassurances that the West urgently needs China to succeed and that free institutions are the surest road to a strong and stable nation.

There is, unfortunately, only so much that a foreign head of state can do about human rights, other than registering disquiet. In any case, the fastest route to freedom for the Chinese people is through trade with the West. And, let us not forget, we also need that trade to lead the world out of recession.